The Bond Of Three Fathers
by Ben10extreme
Summary: Shifu is persuaded to spend some time with Po's Fathers, Mr. Ping and Li Shan. He didn't expect their time together would allow the three of them to reach a new level of understanding for one another, as well as sharing with one another how much they appreciate having Po in their lives...and then the talk of grandkids. Mr. Ping just can't help himself, can he?


**I'm not dead! (Fireworks and rainbows fills the skies)**

 **Sorry about that. I've seen Kung Fu Panda 3 yesterday. And needless to say.. _AWESOME!_ No regrets seeing that movie, whatsoever. Of course my sister was not entirely happy that I went to see it without her...but I don't care. :D**

 **Okay, enough about me, I got another one-shot for you all. Once again, it's not at all related to Tales Of China(I'll update that soon, don't worry), and it's something that I thought up after thinking about how far Po has come...as well as who helped him get there.**

 **Of course it's not a masterpiece...but I'm pretty okay with it. I hope you are...ya know, when you read it.**

 **So yeah, proceed on and enjoy my second one-shot for KFP! Mentions of Tipo are included, though it's not too important.**

* * *

"...I...I'm not very sure about this, Po."

"Come on, Shifu. You're gonna be fine! It's just one day!"

"There's no cause for hesitation. This will be good for you, we're both sure."

It's been exactly three weeks since Po has defeated the seemingly unstoppable dark master, Kai. Even the Dragon Warrior didn't expect to be gaining assistance from Oogway once again, and even less when he's officially become his successor. It was overwhelming, and at the same time, he was immensely proud of himself for coming so far in his Kung Fu career in such a short amount of time. He even inherited Oogway's Chi Staff!

Po truly was a strange one, but in a good sense. It's come to the point that no one can imagine how their lives would have been if the panda hadn't been picked. Things would have been much less cheerful than they are now.

Though things have gotten much cheery around the Valley of Peace ever since the pandas moved in. Turns out, despite how they initially look and act...they sure know how to throw a party. And the guys(Mantis, Monkey, and Po) truly do enjoy a good party. Especially a party with amazing food. One could only guess just how much food had to be prepared, daily. Because to rephrase the point:

 _The pandas have moved in._ And food tends to disappear for 'unknown reasons'. Well, on the bright side, fingers aren't immediately towards Po anymore. That's something he's always gonna be grateful for. Unless Tigress is nearby. She'll _always_ know if it was him or not.

Oh, and praise for her being a survivor. Only member of the Furious Five to not get her chi stolen. So...hooray for that, then. Po's words.

Anyway, on yet another day in the Valley of Peace, Po and Tigress were slowly urging the very hesitant Shifu along toward's Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop, where _both_ of Po's dear fathers, Mr. Ping and Li Shan, were certain to be residing. Being family, Li Shan was more than welcome to move in, there was...room to be shared with the current occupants. The two have gotten along really well, and they even make an excellent fighting duo. But more importantly, they've become best friends.

And Po's plan was to turn that duo into a trio by adding Shifu into the mix. And to the elder master's surprise, Tigress fully supported the idea.

"I mean really, I wouldn't want to bother the duo on their bonding time. They've really been hitting it off, so-"

"Don't be silly, Shifu! You wouldn't be bothering their bonding time at all! If anything,you'd be _enhancing_ it!"

Tigress nodded. "It would be nice to see you three form a fatherly trio. The possibilities stemming from that will be interesting to see."

"Yeah!"Po couldn't help himself, he began jumping giddily. "You three are gonna be the best of friends! It's gonna be so awesome!"

Shifu for one, was seeing another layered meaning behind Po's words, reasoning, and excitement. Even though what Po said was completely and truly genuine, the old master was certain that Po had some other reason for having the master do this. But if there was one thing Shifu could gather from Po's request, was that he _really_ wanted this to work out. And he didn't want to see the panda disappointed because bonding time wasn't what it was cracked up to be. So for Po's sake, Shifu would give this a try.

How strange can it be?

The red panda turned corner to where the two fathers currently were...and he was rather surprised.

"Pssssst...This is General Noodle Goose, reporting in." Mr. Ping whispered, his head slightly peeking from behind a table, his eyes shifty while he was holding a noddle bowl with the noodles shaped like a poorly crafted goose. "No sign of Grand Master Li Shan, yet, though I doubt he's given up. He's been striking relentlessly for exactly five minutes now, keeping us from rescuing Noodle Master Ping. I'm cautiously awaiting his next move..."

"Pssssst...this is Grand Dumpling Panda, reporting in." Li Shan also whispered, his own eyes being very shifty as he held up a crudely but surprisingly stable Dragon Warrior Sized dumpling shaped like a panda. "I haven't seen Grand Master Li Shan, either. I've scouted all of the areas that I could, but he's sly and sneaky. It's never easy to spot him, and it's even harder to actually engage him."

"But how can that be? How can anyone not spot a giant panda lumbering around?"

"I dunno. It looks like he's had some practice in the art of 'Stealth Mode.' He does have a pretty amazing teacher."

"Oh, I agree. His master is quite the excellent instructor when he puts his mind to it. Hey...I heard that they're _relatives._ "

"No way! But who could have-" Li Shan suddenly ate the Dumpling Panda's head, allowing it to fall over while pretending to make it over-dramatic.

"Gah! Dumpling Panda, no!" Mr. Ping had Noodle Goose gasped in horror just as dramatically, as Li Shan held up the bowl of noodles. "He's got us! Abort the mission! Abo-"

There was then the rather normal scene of Li Shan slurping a bowl of noodles, as well as eating the rest of the Dumpling Panda in a single bite. He set the bowl down and wiped his mouth. Mr. Ping pretended to wallow in emotional agony as he crawled up to Li Shan's belly and patted it softly. "Sorry, troops. You were truly great men. But...the monster had to be fed." Mr. Ping softly removed his hat and held it against his chest. "Li Shan...did you at least enjoy their deliciousness...?"

Li Shan stared at Mr. Ping curiously. Then he belched loudly, rubbing his belly with a grin. "Their sacrifices...are most definitely not in vain."

"That's all I needed to know..." They both stood silently, watching one another quietly...then they began laughing loudly, falling on their backs and holding their sides. Whatever they just did, they thought it was funny. And apparently that's all that mattered to them.

Shifu looked a bit baffled to say the least. He didn't even move when Tigress patted his shoulder. "You would be the most mature of the three of you. I do hope you have fun."

"I...I do hope so." Shifu said blankly as he looked up toward's Po...his was was _literally_ glowing golden, complete with a very wide and cheerful smile, and his eyes were secretly pleading with him to try and enjoy the time with them. Shifu found himself unable to bring out any thoughts that were even related to denial. It looks like he was truly going to do this. He then turned towards Tigress again...Lei Lei was now atop her head. "Um...Tigress? Lei Lei is on your head."

"That's right. Lei Lei is on my head. This is my life now, apparently."

"Stripy Baby!~" Lei Lei giggled, fully enjoying her cuddling of the feline. It was amazing just how much the panda toddler took a liking to the tiger master. And the affection is returned fully, as Tigress took the toddler from her position on her head and carried her in her arms. "Hehehehe~"

"Yep. Now if you boys will excuse me, I'll be playing with Lei Lei." Because once the girl grabs hold of her new idol, she won't be letting go for quite a while.

"See ya later, Shifu." Po waved as he walked off with Tigress and Lei Lei.

Shifu took a deep breath as he watches them disappear into the crowd. Then he turned towards Mr. Ping and Li Shan both still laughing alongside one another. He would have made his presence known, but Mr. Ping saw him approaching immediately.

"Ah! Look Li, it's Shifu!"

"Oh! Hello there, Shifu!"

"Greetings, Li and Ping. I've come here on the behalf of Po." Shifu said while bowing respectfully. "He made quite a suggestion, today. He said that we should spend some time together. He genuinely means it, but still..I sense that there is a greater meaning to it...I just don't know what it is."

"Bah! Don't be silly Shifu!" Mr. Ping waved off carelessly. "We don't need an actual reason to spend time with one another, Shifu. We should just go on ahead and do it. Besides, I've been looking forward to a chance like this for a while. The day we get the Great Master Shifu to lighten up even more than usual. And boy, do I wish to see how much more he can lighten up than the power of enlightenment."

"That's actually a pretty good way to look at it, to some degree." Li Shan smiled as he turned towards Shifu. "Okay, Master Shifu! We'll be spending quite a deal of time together today. Since I'm still relatively new to the Valley Of Peace, I don't really think I should be choosing first. What about you, Mr. Ping?"

Mr. Ping folded his arms as he stared up at the sky. He seemed to really be pondering what the three of them could be doing together, he genuinely wanted the three of them to have an amazing time. He then looked down towards Li and Shifu again. "Okay, I might have something. Let's try to act like one another! Yes, let's switch personas! I'll be Shifu, Shifu will be Li Shan, and Li Shan will be me! I want to see what happens!"

Shifu blinked in confusion as he rubbed his forehead. "I'm not sure how I should be processing this.." Mr. Ping suddenly snatched his wooden staff away, much to his surprise. "Mr. Ping-"

"Stop acting like you're Shifu, Li Shan! I'M Master Shifu! Therefore, I get the supercool staff thingie. since it makes me look more heroic and sage-like." Mr. Ping huffed, being careful not to do anything too extreme with Shifu's staff. "Mr. Ping, how as the lunch hour treated you?" He turned to Li Shan. flapping up to his head and placing his hat on top of it.

Li Shan adjusted the hat on his head so that it doesn't fall off, and he grinned proudly. "Not one customer left the shop hungry...which is difficult, because a good portion of them are now pandas. I'm gonna have to order a lot more supplies in order to do my best to keep up in the future! Because one of those pandas is my son!"

Shifu actually felt nervous when he saw both of the fathers staring at him with expectations. This was proving to be incredibly silly no matter how he looked at it, but they seemed to be having fun. He didn't want to become a spoilsport...more than usual. So he attempted to muster up his Li Shan impression, and spoke:

"I'm hungry."

...

...

...

"...Wow Shifu! You're really good at being me!" Li Shan gaped, pointing at him in surprise. Shifu had no idea was going on at the moment, but he was beginning not to care about it. He actually began to laugh aloud. Li Shan and Mr. Ping also began to laugh. "Nope, can't do it. We're not good at pretending to be one another. Our acting skills...they're not top notch like we think we are."

"I agree. We're terrible actors." Shifu chuckled, as Mr. Ping handed him his staff.

"That may be true, but we did terrible acting _together_. I just wanted a good laugh." He emphasized as if it would make things better. To be perfectly honest for Shifu, it kind of did make them feel much better. "Now we'll do something Li Shan wants to do."

Li Shan clasped his paws together as he stared at Shifu attentively. It made the red panda shift a little in anticipation for what the panda may have. "I challenge Shifu...to a dumpling contest! Whoever can eat the most amount of dumplings at once, wins!" Shifu's eyes widened at this request, wondering why he made it. "Po told me about your training days with him. You can apparently clear out quite a few bowls of dumplings in a flash. I want to see that kind of stomach in action!"

"No. I mean just..I don't...know. I couldn't possibly participate in such a contest, I'll surely...lose..." Shifu lifted his head slowly, and almost smacked himself for taking even this long for understanding Li Shan's request. "Unless this is purely for fun!"

"There you go! Now what do you say, Shifu?" Li Shan held out his paw. "Want to give it a go?"

Shifu chuckled softly, shaking his head and waving his hand away. "Even so, I couldn't possibly-"

 **(Later)**

It was amazing to watch, to say the least. Usually, the pandas are usually the biggest eaters around. It's a part of their overall personality, and it's a trait they gladly embrace without regret. So anyone who can eat as much as they can, they'll earn quite a lot of praise.

Shifu was worth considerable mention.

It wasn't how much food he ate that managed to impress Li Shan on a high magnitude, it was how _quickly_ he did it. Every time he was handed a bowl of dumplings, it'd be completely empty in a manner of seconds, due to his fingers and chopsticks being in perfect sync and snatching most dumplings that were visible to him. While with most other pandas, they inhale as much food as they can in their mouths at once, not always as quick, but definitely effective. Because of these attributes, the insane has become real.

Shifu, through some amazing round of luck, managed to tie with the giant panda. Because there was no way he was going it be able to defeat him in an eating contest, but he didn't feel like losing horribly, either. So he settled for the next best thing...a draw. A _very_ close draw, because they were now out of dumplings. Mr. Ping would simply make more later to give to customers, it was easy.

By the end of it, they were both lying against the wall, their paws on their bellies and a rather relaxed look on their faces. Shifu didn't look like he had any regrets with participating in this activity.

"I...I...honestly don't remember the last time I've eaten so many dumplings in one setting. Actually...I don't remember _ever_ eating so many dumplings in one setting..."

"Aha, so this means you haven't been eating as much as your potential allows!" Li Shan nudged him slightly. "You have so much to learn, my friend."

"Alrighty, that's two down!" Mr. Ping said as he stared up at the darkened skies. "It's getting late. We should be able to get Shifu's idea in. Depends on what it could be."

Shifu stood up, claimed his staff, and put on a warm smile. "Well, considering we did two things together that were outrageously silly, I say we balance it by relaxing near the Peach Tree. I'm more than willing to have a cup of tea with the both of you."

"Finishing the day with a relaxing cup of tea?" Li Shan smiled. "I...I'd like that. I'd really like that."

"Peaceful tea near the Peach Tree. Haha! I rhymed! Nailed it!" Mr. Ping clapped, proud of himself. Shifu and Li Shan chuckled softly.

The trio made their way to the Peach Tree, sitting side by side to one another, each holding a cup of tea in their paws/wings. They stared softly at the moon, appreciating it's luminous beauty as they each took a sip of tea, and sighing in relaxation.

Shifu spoke first. "You know...after Po defeated Tai Lung...and we got the Valley cleaned up...I took him up here to have dumplings and tea with me. Of course Po being Po, his bowl was emptied in quite a short amount of time. Of course, I had no qualms with giving him some of mine. He was exhausted and took quite a beating, yet he still came out triumphant." Shifu sighed. "I genuinely did hope that things didn't have to reach that point...but I've moved past it now. What's done is done."

Mr. Ping smiled softly as he was swirling is own cup of tea with a spoon. "Ah, yes. I was worried about him the entire time, I was so relieved! But then..a bit of time passed and he had to go to a faraway city in order to stop Shen. That maniacal peacock was targeting Po specifically, while his identity crisis haunted him the entire time. I was so scared that he wouldn't come back...I couldn't help but cry tears of even more relief when he _did_ come back to me alive, like his friends promised to do. He's brought back quite a story, as well as...oh my goodness." He stood up suddenly and flew off. Shifu and Li Shan both stared at the flying goose, wondering what he remembered that caused him to fly off. They didn't have to wonder for long,as he came back just as quickly, holding onto Po's prized panda doll. "Li Shan...do you recognize this?"

Li Shan's eyes widened as he slowly took the doll from Mr. Ping's wings. He was staring at it with a look of longing. "Of all the personal belongings that could have survived that fire...it had to be this. This tiny doll was just sitting around in the wreckage, waiting for Po to come back and find it...wasn't it?" He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I have saved as much of my people as I possibly could...yet I thought I had lost the two most important and precious to me. Yet I couldn't do a thing because I feared that Shen might find us and finish us off. Hearing that at least my son managed to survive brought a heavy wave of relief to my mind. Then Kai breaks out of the Spirit Realm and...well you know the story. We kinda just lived it."

"Yep." Shifu and Mr. Ping said simultaneously, in a somewhat dull tone.

Silence.

"...What do you think Po was thinking, having us 'hang out' for the day like this?" Shifu asked. The question never left his mind, but for their sake's, he put the thought off for the duration of the day.

Mr. Ping folded his wings, closed his eyes and tilted his head to the right, in deep thought. Li Shan followed suit, wondering the same thing. Shifu eventually gave in and did the same thing. Another moment of silence has passed. It was then that an idea hit Mr. Ping's mind, and he smiled softly. "I don't know if Po knew that this would happen or it's just happy coincidence...but I now know what he wanted to accomplish. Exactly what is happening right now."

"Mr. Ping...?" Li Shan and Shifu watched him with curiosity.

"If there is one thing that the three of us share, it's our fatherly bond with Po." Mr. Ping smiled. "I've been taking care of him his entire life, and he's turned into quite a remarkable panda. Then there's Shifu teaching him Kung Fu, and he's managed to do so much good with it in such a short amount of time. There's no way he's not known all over China by now, and it's all because you gave him a starting point by also ridding him of his self-esteem issues. And then there's you, Li Shan. Meeting you was probably one of the best things to ever happen to Po. Look how happy he is, happier than ever! Many more pandas have entered the fray, so he's not the only one around anymore. I know how much that's been crushing him, despite how much he's tried to hide it."

The other two looked on in amazement as Mr. Ping was coming to this realization. "Of course, we've each had hiccups along the way. Shifu hated Po's guts at first, though Tai Lung being on the trail probably had something to do with it. Our relationship was strained due to his identity crisis and Shen. And he and Li Shan, adult fear took over and almost ruined that relationship before it really began. But...we've always managed to recover from stumbles like those, and moved past them. Heck, it's even made us stronger. Much stronger. In the body, the mind, the heart, and the spirit...and more things. A lot of things about us has gotten stronger, apparently."

Shifu chuckled at the last bit as he looked down on the Valley below them. "I can't help but agree with you, Mr. Ping. While I lost one son...I gained another."

Li Shan smiled. "And I reunited with him, while establishing a very close bond with him myself." He stared up at the skies, his mind wandering back to his deceased wife. He wished he could tell her that she had nothing to worry about, and that he and their son were going to be fine.

Shifu sighed. He's slightly jealous of how quickly Mr. Ping can be so at peace with things while he has a somewhat of a hard time. "I've already retired from teaching Kung Fu. Though that doesn't mean I won't help out from time to time. It just means that I don't have to worry as much anymore."

Li Shan grinned. "Po and I have been bonding very well. I may have not been there for him for a great deal of his life, but I'm just glad that I wasn't too late."

Mr. Ping folded his wings as he stared down upon the Valley. "Po is now a completely fulfilled master of noodles, dumplings, tofu and Kung Fu...now if only he could hurry up and give me some grandchildren already! I'm not getting any younger!"Apparently playing with all of those baby pandas brought this thought ti mind. And it didn't look like he would be letting it go anytime soon.

Li Shan suddenly grinned wider than before. "Ah yes! Grandkids! I feared that I wouldn't be able become a grandfather! Oh yes indeed, we're gonna be hounding him about this until we get him a date!"

Shifu raised an eyebrow at them. "It might be a bit difficult. He's the new monarch to Kung Fu. If he were to find a mate, he'd have to find a strong, independent woman who can defend herself as well as he can. That way, no one will even think of targeting her in order to get to Po's head. And of course...she can be beautiful."

"VERY beautiful!" Mr. Ping cheered.

"And she has to be just as devoted to Po as he is to her. We'll know that they'll ALWAYS be there for each other, no matter what." Li Shan nodded.

Silence.

"...All in favor of Tigress, say aye." Mr. Ping said while raising a wing.

"Aye." The other two raised their paws. The vote was unanimous.

 **(Right at that moment)**

"A-CHOO!" Both Po and Tigress sneezed at the exact same time, but were quick enough to move their food out of the way. They looked around curiously.

"Is...is somebody talking about us, Ti?"

"I'm not sure, Po. Maybe."

"Stripy Baby!~" Lei Lei hugged her leg affectionately, much to the adoration of the crowd around them.

"Uh...Tigress. Don't you get tired of that?" Crane asked, carefully.

"Should I be?" Tigress shrugged as she picks up Lei Lei and placed her on her lap, followed by a soft hug. "Still, I'm wondering who might be talking about us."

Po waved it off. "Meh, must not be that important."

Mei Mei and Viper were watching Po and Tigress have fun with Lei Lei who was doing her best to cuddle both of them at once. They turned towards one another with wide smiles.

"It's adorable how Lei Lei took an instant liking to Tigress, isn't it?" Viper said.

"Yeah. She's never been that instantly affectionate towards anyone." Mei Mei nodded in agreement.

Three...two...one...

"Awww! She's a little shipper and she doesn't know it! That's even cuter!" They spent a long time squealing about this, while Po and Tigress looked at them in confusion.

 **(Back with the fathers)**

"I'm a bit surprised though, Li Shan. I would have thought that you'd support Po being with Mei Mei. For obvious reasons." Mr. Ping asked curiously.

"If there's anyone Po managed to change the most, it's Tigress. I can see it working out." Shifu said. He was neutral about the possibility, because it was their choice to make, not his.

The large panda shrugged.

"Don't get me wrong, Mei Mei can be...overwhelming at times, but she's ultimately a good person. I _might_ have went for those two" Li Shan closed his eyes. "Though when Tigress came stumbling through the entrance of our village, heavily injured and exhausted...Po forgot close to everything around him and focused on her. And on the other side, she was deathly concerned when she learned that he didn't master chi, yet. And she managed to bring him to his senses after our...yeah. It's very apparent that the two of them have been through a lo together. I can see those two together the most. Maybe not now...but in time."

"But for now...let's just keep on enjoying the night." Shifu smiled as he poured more tea into each of their cups. He raised his cup, as well as Mr. Ping and Li Shan. They had warm, peaceful smiles on their faces as they each said the same thing on their minds:

"To being fathers."

This was the night that the three of them have made a deep connection with one another, as well as a new level of understanding of each other. And all because, in one way or another, Po was a loving son to all three of them.

And they wouldn't want it any other way.


End file.
